Want to block out view from neighbors!

I just bought a house I'm completely remodeling and have terrible neighbors! They are not very nice and have a messy lawn to say the least. I would like to find some nice tall trees to block the view along the fence line (about 60ft long). I definitely do not want something with invasive roots. The taller, the better! I was considering 6ft vinyl privacy fence at first, but I'd really rather have something taller and green. The drive is 6ft from the property line, so I cannot have something that gets too wide. Please help..

Bamboo mon. It's the only way to go!!!!! Unless you like to spend 10's of thousands of dollars on trees and wait 5-25 years for them to grow. Then plant redwoods and cedars!! I have done all of the above, and like I said, bamboo is the only way to go. It looks killer too! I have 16 different varieties; greens goldens, blacks, pinks and reds. Some grow almost 10 feet a year! And thick screen too.

I agree with jackfruit, since I also love bamboo and have it in my yard, but be careful of bamboo that doesn't grow in clumps, but grows with runners! It'll spread like wildfire and go places you don't want it to go (like under the grumpy neighbor's fence LOL)...I know..I'm dealing with a bit of that now, and will have to transplant it to a "safer" location in my yard in the spring.

jackfruit...where'd you get black and red bamboo? I've been searching for black, but haven't found any locally yet. How spendy is it? I know up here, it's frightfully expensive for even very small containers of golden bamboo.

Till you can decide and really research what is best, what about a line of trellis fence, much cheaper I would think, then you can grow climbers along it, Roses, Clematis, etc, then you get the benefit of all the colour, and some privacy. be really careful with Bamboo, you need to plant some of these with a restrictive barrier buried into the soil to contain the root run or before you know it, you could end up with a whole yard full of those tough roots out of control, there are really lovely ones that are not so bad with the roots, but you need to look out a good garden book for the best kind to grow, Good luck. WeeNel.

I agree with WeeNel, watch the bamboo. After spending 5 years digging the crap out of our yard and septic system, I'm not a big fan. It was in the neighbor's yard, they moved, new one's moved in and they were happy either, since it was crumbling the foundation of their house. Not good stuff in less you can barrier it.

-Black Bamboo - not as invasive, plant a good distance away from the propertly line to let it fill in and incase it spreads too much.

-Leyland Cypress - very nice. although my have taken FOREVER to get inches on them, but then again, mine are in much poorer clay soil down wind towards the neighbors

-Rhondendrens bushes (spelling?)- related to Azalea family

-Rose of Sharon - fills in nicely to

-Ordinarly maples tree saplings and pine tree saplings as a tree buffer area. Usually the local forestrey service gives these away for free at the state fair. You can just plant the seeds that grow wild.

Mimosas are very invasive in much of the country, I definitely wouldn't recommend them. And they have very wide spreading canopies, so they're not necessarily the best for screening along property lines even if they weren't invasive. I found it here listed as a "sigificant threat" in Kentucky: http://www.se-eppc.org/ky/list.htm Some species of privet are also rather invasive so I'd be careful of those too.

You might also contact your local extension agent for suggestions and advice. He/she should be able to advise you on what grows best in your area and is the most disease resistant as well.
I'm surprised at the comment of a slow growing Leyland Cypress. In my area, you don't want to stand over the hole. LOL They are unfortunately beginning to suffer from some serious disease and insect problems.

hmm. It may be too late now as it is tall than my ranch house. hehe. I bought it at a local nursery. Fortunately, it's in a open lawn situation, so I just end up mulching stuff that never gets to seed much. :)

Thuja have few pest problems and are very disease resistant. One of the neighbor's up the road has them lining part of the front of his property and they are stunning. They make the pines around here look pretty bedraggled.

LOL doccat5! I am thrilled to hear they make the pines look bedraggled as the area I live people LOVE the huge pines!!!!! I am so glad we don't have them in our yard---and given the space that's a good thing. A thuja for me it 'tis.

They really are a deep, deep rich emerald green ( I'm sure each one has it's very own leprechaun hiding in the branches somewhere) I not only love the color, the branches look more feathery? Not stiff and spiked out, more graceful looking. Beautiful trees.